Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns all rights to Harry Potter

Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who has supported me so far by reading, reviewing, favouriting and following my story.

Special thanks to Anthro79, aditivats and fissia2317 who are the latest people to follow and favorite my story, the support is greatly appreciated.

Chapter Forty Four:

Following the shock attempt by Remus to kill Harry on the eleventh of August, the rest of the day was very subdued despite it being Ginny's birthday. A party had been planned, presents purchased and food readied but no one felt like celebrating.

Harry did manage to persuade Ginny to at least open her presents and that afternoon they ate the birthday food but they struggled to put on brave faces and enjoy themselves, especially Harry as he thought back to what had happened that morning.

It was early evening and those people resident at Number Twelve were sat around in the living room either chatting or dozing or reading or playing wizards chess.

Harry, deeply engrossed in a game of wizards chess with Ron, that he was close to losing, again, looked up as footsteps sounded in the hallway and felt anxious as the tall, slender frame of Albus Dumbledore filled the doorway.

"Madame Pomfrey has just left" he informed the group as he entered the room. He sighed and went on "it is as I feared, Remus was tortured so extensively that his mind weakened, allowing Voldemort to take possession of it and use Remus to attack Harry".

"Is he alright now Professor?" Harry asked in an urgent voice. He squeezed his cousins hand, knowing that Lauren had wanted to ask the question but was unable to find her voice.

At this question Dumbledore actually smiled! which Harry took to be a good sign as the old wizard rarely smiled if a situation was still grave or desperate.

"I am pleased to say that between the two of us Madame Pomfrey and I managed to locate the dark force present in Remus' mind and remove it. It took a while and tried hard to fight us but in the end we forced it out and I can say with confidence, that Remus Lupin shall be back to normal".

Harry, however, knew that there would be one key issue after everything that had happened and asked "how do we convince him it's not his fault?" he asked succinctly.

Sitting on the sofa near him, Sirius nodded and said "I've known Remus for a great many years as you know Professor. He's my best friend, this will eat him up inside".

"Do not worry about this point gentlemen" Dumbledore said calmly "I will return when he awakes and help you to persuade him that he is not at fault for this business".

"No. It's Voldemort's fault!" Harry growled angrily "he'll pay for doing this to Remus one day" he vowed.

Dumbledore nodded but looked at Harry in concern, as if he thought Harry might try to take down Voldemort now. But Harry wasn't foolish enough to do such a thing. He knew there were barriers between himself and Voldemort and that these barriers must be removed if he was to succeed. 'But I will do one day!' he told himself resolutely.

"Quite so my boy, quite so" Dumbledore replied and then said "I must bid you all a good day and take my leave". He turned to Sirius "Sirius, I wonder if you'd be kind enough to escort me to the door. I have something I wish to discuss with you in private if you please".

Sirius frowned evidently wondering what the old wizard could have to say that didn't involve or impact any of the other people in the room but as it was a request from Dumbledore, who he greatly respected, he voiced his agreement, got up from the sofa and followed Dumbledore from the room.

In the hallway, Sirius stood with his hand resting on the banisters as he asked Dumbledore "what did you need to ask Albus?".

The old wizards blue eyes twinkled behind his half-moon spectacles as he said "I seem to be short a teacher for defence against the dark arts once again now that Alastor has volunteered to take up the duty of escorting Hagrid to speak to the giants in Russia".

Sirius frowned "I know all this already Albus why tell..." he tailed off and gaped at Dumbledore. His throat was dry and his voice hoarse as he said "you mean...me?" he pointed at himself "you want me to teach students?".

"Certainly, if you wish to accept my offer" Dumbledore replied with a smile.

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck. "Well...I wasn't expecting this" he said frankly.

"I understand that it's a difficult decision and I'd be asking you to trade the excitement of being an Auror for grading essays and giving detentions" said Dumbledore "but please at least think about it. I am holding the first staff meeting before the new term, in two days time. It will also give the staff the chance to meet the..eh...Ministry liaison".

Sirius nodded. "I accept Albus" he said after a moment and then added "I'm not leaving my godson at Hogwarts with that old bat Dolores Umbridge. I know for a fact she doesn't like children and will not be a good fit".

Dumbledore sighed. "I fear you are right my boy. My dealings with her have not been good but what can I do? she is the Ministers right hand woman and rather powerful".

Sirius shook his head. "There isn't anything to be done about it right now" he said. "We can't risk antagonising the Minister any further given our continued stance on the return of Voldemort".

"We shall merely have to watch Ms Umbridge and make sure she cannot harm the students" Dumbledore concluded.

The old wizard smiled again and extended his hand. Sirius shook it. "I look forward to seeing you in the Hogwarts Staff Room in a few days but now I shall bid you good day".

And with that the old wizard turned on his heel, walked to the front door and exited the house.

Sirius stood there for a time before eventually walking back into the living room.

Everyone present, looked up at Sirius and Lauren asked the inevitable question "what did Professor Dumbledore want to see you about Sirius?".

Sirius said nothing for a moment still feeling much too elated to speak but then he grinned and replied "he asked me if I'd like to be the latest defence against the dark arts teacher".

In an instant, he was being hugged by Harry and Lauren who both voiced their enthusiasm repeatedly at him being at Hogwarts with them for the year.

Ron, Ginny, Fred and George were similarly enthusiastic with Ron and Ginny cheering, the Twins high fiving and shouting "yes! we've got a Marauder at Hogwarts again!".

Molly, Mandy, Jacob and Arthur all also congratulated him and Arthur said, as he shook Sirius' hand, "Remus will be so thrilled for you when he hears the news".

Remus awoke to one of the worst headaches he'd ever had. He blinked back the stars in front of his eyes as he sat up and he looked around the room in puzzlement. It was definitely his room alright. 'But how did I get here?' he thought as he frowned.

The last thing he remembered was Voldemort taunting and torturing him. The pain of the cruciatus curse had been immense. Worse even than the pain of his werewolf transformations.

He was sure something had happened and tried to recall it but his mind was far too fuzzy. After a some time his headache was getting worse and he abandoned the attempt to remember, sinking back down onto the pillows in frustration.

There was a light knock on the bedroom door and Remus raised an eyebrow as Poppy entered the room carrying a goblet in her hands.

When she saw he was awake, she gasped, hurried over to him and set the goblet down on his bedside table. "Remus thank goodness you're awake! how do you feel?" she asked him.

Remus noted her concern that seemed to verge on anxiety and his eyebrows raised even higher as he replied "I have a splitting headache Poppy but apart from that..." he shrugged "...fine".

Poppy huffed a sigh of, what sounded to Remus like relief and then she picked up the goblet, passing it over to him. "Drink this" she said "it's the same painkilling potion you use after your transformations".

Remus took it and gratefully said "thank you" as he downed the contents in one gulp, gagged at the taste and fell back onto his pillows.

For awhile, neither patient nor Medi-witch spoke until Remus broke the silence between them as he said "what happened to me Poppy? how did I get here?".

The Hogwarts Medi-witch sighed and replied "I'm not best placed to explain Remus. I wasn't here when it happened".

"When what happened?". Remus felt a leaden feeling settle itself in the pit of his stomach. Something bad had happened. Something involving him judging by the sad look in the eyes of the Medi-witch. 'But what?' thought Remus 'and why can't I remember?'.

"I'll inform everyone that you're awake. I'm sure Sirius will want to see you and I must inform Albus that you are up".

Remus smiled weakly tried to ignore the horrible feeling. "Thank you Poppy".

She nodded, crossed to the door and left the room closing the door behind her.

Remus was still lost in his thoughts when the door creaked loudly open and he looked over to see his curly haired best friend looking apprehensive and hopeful at the same time.

"Sirius" Remus said simply. His voice felt hoarse. "What the hell happened to me?" he demanded "what did I do?".

Sirius scratched his moustache and closed his eyes for a moment. It was clear to Remus that he was trying to think of what to say and how to say it.

A few seconds went by before Sirius opened his eyes, ambled over to the bed and sat down in the armchair nearby. "Promise me you won't freak out too much" he said.

Remus blinked as the horrible feeling in his stomach intensified. He felt like an eclipse of moths were fluttering about within. "Just tell me Sirius". When Sirius still hesitated he rolled his eyes "I promise not to freak out too much".

Sirius seemed relieved at this promise and blew out a breath as he said "how much do you remember about the rescue?".

Remus frowned, trying to cast his mind back but he soon shook his head and replied "nothing. It's all a complete blank".

"Not surprising I suppose" Sirius commented. "You had been possessed by Voldemort". Remus' mouth fell open as Sirius explained "when we found you you were down in the cellar and pretty well out of it. You were mumbling about not wanting to go through any more torture, that's when I knew you were in bad shape".

"What happened then?".

"Well then" Sirius sighed "then, we got you out of the manor by portkey and back here where Madame Pomfrey treated you. A couple of days later you woke up, apparently back to normal".

"Except I wasn't" Remus whispered concludingly.

Sirius' face took on a serious countenance (no pun intended) as he said "none of it was your fault Remus. You couldn't have stopped him".

"What did I do under Voldemort's influence?".

"Are you sure you really want to know?" Sirius asked him.

"I have to know" Remus said "in order to process it and move on".

Sirius sighed and said "you tried to...tried to kill Harry". His voice had caught as he said those words. Remus had thought nothing could be so terrible. 'I actually tried to kill my dead friends son!'. He felt so disgusted with himself. Felt like a total failure.

"I didn't...I...is he...".

"Harry's fine" Sirius was quick to assure him. "He's shaken up about the whole thing as is Lauren but otherwise, unharmed".

"Lauren?". Remus shut his eyes and shook his head as tears began to form in his green eyes. "No. No not Lauren" his voice was thick with emotion "not in front of her".

He couldn't help it. As much as Remus Lupin always prided himself on being the strong one, the unemotional and level headed one in their friendship, he just couldn't stop himself as the tears began to fall onto the duvet and he sobbed loudly and heavily.

He could see very little as his eyes were blurred with tears, but he soon felt strong arms wrap around him and pull him towards someone. The curly hair that tickled his nose made it clear that it was Sirius.

Remus hugged his best friend back, feeling grateful beyond words for the comfort and support that his friend...no his brother...was providing at that moment.

The situation between Dumbledore and the Ministry had gotten steadily more heated as the month of August had gone by with the Ministry enlisting the help of the Daily Prophet to rubbish the claims of Voldemort's return.

In one article, which really made Harry fume, Dumbledore was described as a senile old fool who let his students run rough shod at Hogwarts, Cedric was called a delusional narcissist who was out for whatever attention he could get and Harry himself was called an attention seeking trouble maker whose own past had caused deep emotional issues.

Harry had really scoffed at that last part. He may get angry easily at times but was it really any wonder when he read tripe such as this?.

The morning of the first of September arrived at Number twelve Grimmauld Place and, as with every first of September, there was the usual mad rush of adults and students racing about to find items and get them into the trunks and get the trunks downstairs into the hallway ready for the journey to Kings Cross Station for the Hogwarts Express.

Unlike most other firsts of September however, the atmosphere was much tenser than in previous years for Voldemort had been unusually quiet in the time between his rebirth back in June and the beginning of September. 'Indeed' Harry thought 'if I hadn't seen him return and hadn't had my blood used in the ritual, I might not have believed it'.

Harry's uncle had spoken on the issue only the previous night. "It's just the calm before the storm" he had said and given that he was the head of the Auror Squads he ought to know such a thing.

"You don't reckon they're gonna ambush us...do you?" Ron whispered to Harry as the waited in the hallway.

Before Harry could respond Hermione, who was standing by the stairs, rolled her eyes and said "I seriously doubt it Ronald".

"And why not?" demanded Ron who was red in the face now.

Harry sighed as Hermione retorted "because Ronald, they're lying low right now and any such ambush would give the game away on Voldemort's return..." Ron flinched but Hermione finished "which is exactly what they don't want right now".

Ron looked embarrassed and muttered "well, when you put it that way...". Their best friend fell silent as Neville, who was always at Grimmauld Place, said in a worrying tone "I hope my gran will be alright on her own".

Harry gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "I'm sure she will mate" he said with a grin "you know how fierce your gran is".

At this Neville grinned too and nodded "yeah that's true".

Lauren joined them in the hallway muttering "what's taking them so long?". It was clear to Harry that she was impatient to leave the oppressive atmosphere of Number twelve and to be fair Harry couldn't blame her for he too wanted to leave.

"They'll be deciding who's escorting us to Kings Cross" Harry said sensibly.

Hermione nodded and agreed "not all of them can go. Many are needed to tail Death Eaters and report back to Dumbledore".

A few minutes elapsed and footsteps sounded on the tiled floor of the hallway. Sirius joined them dressed in his smartest muggle suit and smiled tightly at them all "morning kids".

"Morning Sirius" they all replied.

"Who's taking us to the station Padfoot?" Harry asked, using the nickname Sirius was known by.

Sirius ran a hand through his dark curly hair and sighed. "We've decided that you'll all be accompanied by myself, Remus, Molly, Tonks and Mandy".

"Why aren't Uncle Jacob and Mr Weasley coming?" Harry asked with a frown.

Sirius ruffled Harry's hair causing him to glare at his godfather and smoothing the hair back down. "Because Harry, they've both got to go to the Ministry. Things there are getting more tense. Fudge is starting to become convinced that Dumbledore is plotting against him, wanting his job".

"What?!" the kids exclaimed.

"That's bonkers!" Ron summed up their feelings as Neville added "Dumbledore has always turned down being Minister, why would he want the job now".

"Well obviously he wouldn't but it's clear that Fudge isn't in his right mind" Sirius explained and added "it doesn't help that that old witch of a secretary Dolores Umbridge is there stirring the pot".

Harry huffed out a breath. "I can't believe we have to put up with that toad being inside Hogwarts" he complained.

His friends and cousin all voiced their agreement. Sirius smiled. "I understand your feelings" he told them "but there's nothing to be done about it now. I can assure you though that the staff will be watching her closely for any reason to throw her out".

Harry grinned again. "Thank god you'll be there with us Sirius. It's good to know we'll have someone to help us if that old witch tries anything".

Sirius pulled him and Lauren into a hug. When he let go he said "if she hurts any of you..." he looked from Harry and Lauren to Neville, Ron and Hermione "...you let me know, right away and I'll deal with it".

Just as Sirius finished speaking Mrs Weasley and Mandy appeared in the hallway both looking exceedingly flustered and pushing Fred and George ahead of them. "And don't do it again!" Mrs Weasley snapped at them "just because you can apparate now does not mean you need to do it for every little thing!".

Fred and George rolled their eyes earning a slap each on the shoulder and a sharp rebuke "don't you roll your eyes at me!".

There was the sound of footsteps on the stairs and Remus appeared dressed in smart trousers with a shirt and a red jumper "good morning everyone" he said "ready for the off?".

"Not yet" Sirius answered and then shouted up the stairs "not until a certain witch gets a move on and stops fussing over her appearance!".

"I heard that Sirius!" Tonks retorted from somewhere on the landing "I'm actually coming down now!".

In a minute, Tonks was heading down the stairs. She grinned as she saw them and said "wotcher!". In her enthusiasm she missed the last two stairs and went flying. Thankfully, Remus was in her way and she crashed onto him as he fell backwards with a thump and a loud "oof!".

From where he was, Harry grinned as Tonks commented "well hello Mr Lupin. Miss me?".

Remus chuckled. "We've only been apart for two minutes Tonks".

"Two minutes too long" she remarked as she proceeded to snog him.

Sirius coughed loudly, causing the two to blush fiercely and pick themselves up. It was obvious to Harry that they'd forgotten about the others being there.

As Remus and Tonks dusted themselves down Sirius muttered "good, now we can leave at last". Tonks slapped his arm and glared.

Sirius led the way out of Grimmauld Place as Molly and Mandy with help from Remus and Tonks levitated the trunks down the steps and across the road.

Remus cast a muggle repelling charm and shielded them as Mrs Weasley, Mandy and Sirius shrank the trunks for transport purposes and Tonks entertained Harry and the others.

Tonks, who was sporting blonde hair and brown eyes today, was making them all laugh by morphing her face into various humorous forms including a goose, a duck and a cat.

"All done" Sirius informed the children and Tonks as he walked over to them. "Since Fred and George are both of age and can apparate they'll be taking one each of you".

Sirius gestured to Fred and George who ambled over, hands in pockets and grinning like Kneazles.

Fred chose to apparate with Ron while George chose Ginny.

Harry, cage in hand and casting a concerned look at the idea of having to transport an owl cage by apparition, held onto Sirius' arm as Remus took Hermione's.

Lauren held on tight to her mum and Mandy just smiled at her. "It'll be fine darling" she assured her daughter. Lauren hated apparition.

Neville, toad securely in a basket, held on to Mrs Weasleys arm.

"On the count of three" Sirius instructed. "One, two, three" the couples turned on the spot and suddenly the street of Grimmauld Place was once again devoid of people.

Harry shook his head to clear it of the cobwebs as he and Sirius landed on solid concrete. He looked around and found that they were in a side street near Kings Cross Station.

"Everybody ok?" Sirius enquired. The other witches and wizards all nodded, though Harry noticed that his cousin looked rather green in the face and he gave her a sympathetic grin. She grinned back weakly.

"We'd better hurry" Remus remarked having checked his watch "it's ten forty five am already".

The group set off down the side street and were soon crossing the road and entering the Kings Cross Station car park.

"You kids wait here, we'll get the trolleys" Mrs Weasley declared.

"I'll wait with them to keep them out of mischief" Mandy said. Mrs Weasley smiled and thanked her while casting a glare at Fred and George. "You two behave yourselves" she warned "or I'll be displeased".

Fred and George just grinned in response causing their mother to sigh and hurry off after Remus and Sirius.

"Hey Harry" Fred said. Harry looked over at he and George and replied "yeah?".

"Come here a sec" George muttered.

Nonplussed, Harry walked over to them and asked "what did you need?".

Fred and George looked "well since you're one of the fifth year prefects this year we wanted to ask you to you know..." George tailed off.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Turn a blind eye to our selling prank items to the students" Fred finished for them.

Harry looked over their shoulders at Hermione who was gazing at the three of them, eyes narrowed.

He looked at them both and said carefully "I'll do my best but..." he nodded at Hermione "...Hermione won't be happy if she finds out I've been letting you do this".

Fred and George exchanged a look and nodded to each other and then looked at Harry again "fair enough" said George.

"Just tell her to go easy if she finds out" Fred pleaded.

Harry raised an eyebrow as if to say "surely you don't think she'll listen to me?". Fred and George sighed in acknowledgement.

"Here we are" came the bright but flustered voice of Mrs Weasley. Eight trolley's were pushed over to the kids and, after casting a glance around, the adults resized the trunks, helped place cages and baskets on them and then helped the younger children push their trolleys through the main doors, across the train station lobby and through the double doors on to Platform Nine.

With help from the adults, the children were soon in front of the barrier to Platform Nine and Three Quarters and with a good run up all of them made it to the other side with no mishaps.

Once on the platform, Harry groaned for he saw that there were many reporters on the platform including one Rita Skeeter.

Although Skeeter had been blackmailed into not writing any articles that made Harry look bad, she was not banned from talking to him and trying to get his take on things.

"Hide me!" Harry hissed to the others and his invisibility cloak was soon whipped out of his trunk and thrown around his shoulders as Sirius pushed his trolley down the platform for him with Harry keeping close to him and hoping that Skeeter wouldn't discover him.

The impromptu plan worked and Harry was soon hauling his trunk up onto the train with Sirius' help. Once all of the children had placed their trunks in the corridor they hopped back down onto the platform for the usual farewells.

Harry hugged his godfather and aunt as well as Remus before being pulled into a bone crushing hug by Mrs Weasley.

All of the children received hugs or pats on the back while the adults gave the usual speech about having a good term, behaving themselves and enjoying their time at Hogwarts and soon the children were all on the train.

Sirius followed them on and, newly resized suitcase in hand, said "see you later you lot. I've got to head to the professors carriage. Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout will be waiting for me".

He strode on along the carriage whistling jauntily to himself as Harry and the others walked along the carriage searching for a free compartment.

"This ones empty" Ginny said after some ten minutes. The group of students piled in, all except Fred and George who said "goodbye kiddiewinks, see you later".

They grinned at Harry and Hermione "see you later, ickle Prefects".

Harry rolled his eyes at the term while Hermione glared at them sharply and shouted after them "you should be more respectful!".

After the Twins had gone, Hermione turned to Harry and said "you know, we really should head down to the prefects carriage, we have to meet with the other prefects and the head boy and head girl".

Harry sighed "yeah I guess so".

He looked at the others "will you guys look out for Daphne and the others and let them know where we've gone if they show up?".

They all nodded though Lauren grinned and muttered "like you're interested in anyone else than Daphne".

This caused Ron and Neville to snigger while Ginny asked Harry "want me to hex these idiots Harry?".

Harry looked at his best friends for a moment as both gulped at the threat. He pretended to consider it before saying "better not Ginny, they'll need their noses free in case of trouble".

Ginny smirked while Ron and Neville looked relieved.

Harry and Hermione said goodbye and departed the compartment.

As they walked Hermione said aloud "I wonder who the other new prefects are".

"Does it really matter?" Harry asked plaintively. Hermione shrugged and replied "no, I suppose not".

Just as Harry had asked though, he had an awful thought and stopped Hermione in her tracks "you don't think Malfoy's a prefect do you?" he said.

Hermione's eyes widened for a moment before she scowled "I hope not" she said hotly "he certainly doesn't deserve to be".

"Yeah but since when does Professor Snape make decisions based on merit?" Harry asked.

"True" Hermione replied absently.

They resumed walking and soon found themselves in front of the door to the prefects carriage.

Hermione opened it for them and both stared in furious disbelief as Malfoy looked at them with cold eyes from his seat next to Pansy Parkinson "surprised Potter?".

Further note: I know this chapter seems a bit shorter than usual but I felt that the place I left it on was as good as any.